...Garden Clubs ~ Land Trusts ~ Libraries ~ Schools ~ Audubon Chapters ~ Nature Centers...
Nature Presentations
All presentations are geared toward a general audience interested in an introduction to the topic selected. "Himmelman's entertaining personal anecdotes, along with natural history facts, accompany his own photography. His goal is to inspire the audience to want to learn more about these subjects for which he has a passion!"
They are all via Powerpoint and run about an hour, with Q&A. He often brings along a selection of his natural history books (some for children, some for adults) to make available for sale and signing.
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FEE: $325 within an hour drive from Killingworth, CT. Additional charge for additional distance.
Hosts are asked to provide an extension cord for the laptop/projector (should you not have one), a screen (or blank wall), and a table to spread out some books.
Zoom presentations available for all programs, but in-person preferred.
DISCOVERING MOTHS.
Nighttime Jewels in Your
Own Backyard
Meet the beautiful, fascinating and underappreciated cousins of the butterflies. Chances are that hundreds of species of moths live just outside your door. These important pollinators show an amazing variety of color, shape, and behavior, but since most (by no means all) are active at night, we often simply overlook them. Not Himmelman, though, who has long been attracted to the the moths as they are to lights!
SINGING LEAVES, THE STORIES AND SONGS OF NIGHT-SINGING INSECTS
On warm summer evenings, night-singing insects (crickets and katydids) produce a whirring, chirping soundscape— a calming aural tapestry celebrated by poets and naturalists for millennia. Who are those songsters, so hard to find amongst the leaves and twigs they’ve evolved to resemble? And why are they singing? Himmelman introduces you to the individuals you’ve all likely heard, but have never seen, through his photographs and recordings of their calls in New England. And shares wee-hour tales of stalking these creatures up and down the east coast.
BUTTERFLIES & THEIR GARDENS
Who doesn’t love butterflies? They are the one insect, that if landed upon your shoulder, would be granted permission to stay. They don’t bite. They don’t sting. They don’t dig up your gardens. What they do, instead, is pollinate our flora while adding flitting dash of color, form, and movement to our outdoor tapestry. Let’s meet some of them as they come and go through our seasons. The 2nd half of the program covers how to entice them to stick around by planting in your yard food for both the adults and their caterpillars. And... a bit on their cousins - the moths.
INSECTS & THEIR AMAZINGOSITY!
Himmelman loves bugs. Join him a tour of insects that have caught his interest over the years, from childhood safaris to writing books about them. No doubt you'll meet many you’ve come across yourselves. Which insect has the worst sting, and where’s the worst place to get stung? What’s with those ladybugs in my house? How do you get a dragonfly to pose for a photo? Or a spider to dance? Himmelman’s photos accompany light-hearted, educational stories of the little creatures who share our planet, and yards.
DISCOVERING
AMPHIBIANS
What makes amphibians so fascinating? They’re mostly small and well camouflaged and easily overlooked as they go about their little lives. But appealing they certainly are. This presentation with photos of our New England frogs and salamanders takes us through a typical season of their emergence in late winter until bedtime in autumn – accompanied by recordings of the different frogs you’ve likely heard on those summer evenings and rainy nights.
BIRDS, THEIR SIDE
OF THE STORY
How did our best-known birds earn that distinction? What are some of the crazy things they make us do? Why are there so many pigeons in cities? How adept are crows— for real now, at using a screwdriver? What did Ben Franklin really think about turkeys and eagles? Himmelman shares light-hearted stories of birds and bird watching – from cuisine to cartoons, ornaments to icons, murmurs to murders. You’ll be given a whole new look at the avian friends we so admire (and some, not so much…).
